Regan Wyngarde
|history= Regan is the daughter of a wealthy woman and a manipulative father. Her childhood, it must be said, was not 'average'. She rarely saw her father, and her mother was more annoyed by the intrusion of a child into her social life than affectionate. As a result, much of Regan's early years were defined by learning how to get her mother's house-staff to give her what she wanted. She discovered early how to get a tutor fired, or how to get a maid into severe trouble, or how to carefully craft a tantrum to unleash at the most inconvenient moments for her beleaguered mother. When she did get to see her father, he was delighted to spoil and praise and reward Regan's cleverness, and often took her side rather than discipline her. So it went, with Daddy starting to become more and more involved as puberty grew closer. See, Daddy knew the odds were good that his little girl would have the mutant gene, just as he did. And if she was, and if her powers were like his, he could imagine any number of possibilities to expand his own criminal operations. Sure enough, around the age of 14, Regan found herself turning her bedroom into a tropical beach, then Paris, then a fancy gala. Daddy was quick to jump in, calmly explaining what was happening, and how it was finally time for her to come with him. Without a thought, or even a word of good-bye, Regan eagerly left her mother's home and began traveling through Europe with her father. She became his apprentice, learning the craft of weaving detailed and realistic illusions. She learned how to change her own outward appearance, and how that appearance might make certain types of people more eager to do what she wanted. She grew in confidence and pride, as her father's tutelage shaped her into a cunning young criminal. The one crime Daddy didn't approve of was murder, and even that was simply a practical concern. Corpses draw attention and questions, the two natural enemies of any good illusion. Besides, he'd explained repeatedly, once she mastered her powers, she could trap someone inside their own minds, in a fate worse than death. The temptation of that power was a strong incentive for the girl, and she stuck with her father as long as she could stand it, working and working until she realized he wasn't able to teach her anything else. And that he wasn't actually interested in sharing his little criminal empire with her. She, like most of his lackeys, was simply another tool for his use. At the age of 19, Regan struck off on her own, heading deeper into Eastern Europe while her father relaxed in Italy. Within a few months, and with a little trial and error, she began to carve her own little slice of the local underworld. At first, she presented herself as a representative of an older crimelord looking to expand, but gradually began to make her own name: Lady Mastermind. By the age of 21, she was gaining notoriety through the Balkans, and decided to follow her Daddy's example again. She began to circulate across Europe, along the Mediterranean, into formerly Soviet nations, even up into Scandinavia. Her purposes were simple enough: establish a deep and lasting network of trusting (or manipulative) 'friends', and enjoy the hell out of her life. She found that taking on work as a freelance snoop/snitch presented new adventures, new thrills, and kept her on her toes. Teasing drunks out of booze was hardly as life-threatening as targeting diplomats, after all. It was one of these types of jobs that changed everything. It started off simply. The target was an ambassador for a small oil-rich nation in the Middle East, an older gentleman with a fondness for drugs and European floozies. Regan's client wanted blackmail material over the ambassador, to ensure certain illicit 'merchandise' was transported from one place to another. Considering how much money was offered, Regan wasn't about to turn the job down. It was easy enough to insinuate herself into the right place at the right time, to giggle and flip her hair just so, to catch the man's eye. All was going smoothly, and the pair ended up inside the ambassador's car, heading somewhere private. Yet before Regan could act, the car was diverted and detained, and suddenly surrounded by SHIELD agents. Cursing her luck, Regan bailed quickly, using her powers to simply 'vanish' from sight, and run off. Or so she'd thought. While most of the agents dealt with the ambassador and his crimes, one psychic on the squad noticed the too-obvious mental 'blank spot' and followed it. Assuming herself safe enough, Regan dropped her illusion and 'popped' back into view of the psychic. Soon enough, SHIELD was developing a dossier on this Lady Mastermind, and making decisions. Undercover contacts began feeling her out, offering SHIELD-aligned jobs, which she carried out with relative ease, never suspecting she'd been found out. While it was difficult to fully assess her skills and powers, a determination was soon made, and at 24 years old, the mistress manipulator found herself caught up in someone else's game. Local police began to harass her, evidence against her kept turning up. Her safe houses were raided repeatedly. Regan grew more and more frustrated, trying to stay just ahead of various police departments. Until finally, her luck ran out. In Berlin, a full-out raid trapped the infamous Lady Mastermind, and a laundry list of criminal charges produced. However, while she sat in an interrogation room, someone else showed up. Someone very much not German, and not very police. Someone in a very crisp black suit, with dark glasses and a gruff voice. The suit-clad man spoke calmly and quietly to Regan, for nearly two straight hours. Three days later, Regan Wyngarde found all charges dropped, pending her completion of orientation and training, and a required two-year probation as a fully-deputized Agent of SHIELD. }} Category:FCCategory:NeutralCategory:Registered-Real-Name Category:Character